Plaiting-machine.



No. 659,l7|. Patented Oct. 2, I900. T.- F. HAGERTY.

PLAITING MACHINE.

(Application filed May 3, 1900.)

(No Model.)

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2 NITED STATES THOMAS F. HAGERTY, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

PLAlTlNG-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 659,171. dated October 2, 1900. Application filed May 3, 1900. Serial No. 15,335. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS F. HAGERTY, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Plaiting-Machines, of which the' following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in plaiting-machines designed to plait cloth or other fabrics, this machine being what is commonly known as a side plaiter, and one object of my invention is so to improve a machine of this character (for which a patent was granted me May 2, 1899, No. 624,014) by dispensing with the outside cams that actuate the blade-carryin g rocking frame and substitute in lieu thereof a curved slotted arm attached to an eccentric and strap mounted upon the driving-shaft.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a simple, durable, and inexpensive plaiting-machine which is very useful and practical.

To attain the desired objects, my invention consists of a plaiting-machine embodying novel features of construction and combination of parts,substantially as disclosed herein.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my invention, showing the principal elements constituting my invention. Fig. 2 is a similar view taken from the opposite side of the machine, showing the mechanism employed to move the pressing-rollers and means to press and lift the blade from the fabric.

Referring by numerals to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the frame of the machine.

2 is the lower hollow roller, mounted in trunnions 3 on the sides of the frame.

4 is the top hollow roller, mounted in boxes 5 and 5'"', which slide vertically up or down in the vertical slots 6 on the sides of the frame.

7 is the driving-shaft, mounted in the bearings 8 in the front of the frame, and 9 is the rock-shaft, mounted in thelower part of the sides of the frame. Attached to the rockshaft, on the outside of the frame, are arms 10 and 11. To the upper ends of these arms is journaled the blade shaft 12. To this blade-shaft is attached by a cap and setscrews the blade 13.

The top and bottom rollers are geared together, and on front of the gear of the lower roller is attached a ratchet-wheel 14c, and in front of the ratchet-wheel, to the end of the roller, is attached a pawl-carrying arm 14. The lower end of the arm 14 is provided with a stud 14 to which is attached one end of a link 15, the other end of which is at tached to a sliding block 16,whicl1 is attached to and slides in a chuck 17, attached to the driving-shaft. Between this chuck and the frame is attached a cam 18, which is intended to intermittently impart pressure to the blade through the medium of a trippinglever 19, which is attached to the end of the blade-shaft on the left-hand side of the frame, as shown in Fig. 2, the upper front ends of said lever and blade being released by means of a coil-spring 20, attached to the blade-shaft at one end, while the other end is attached to the lever. The frame-arms are slotted, as at 21, to receive two levers 22 and 22, to which they are attached by means of pins or screws.

These levers also pass through arms 23, provided in the boxes,which carry the upper rollers and are attached to them by pins and ex- ,tend farther out toward the rear of the machine to receive the coiled springs 23*, which.

impart a yielding pressure to the rollers. Brackets 24 are provided upon the sides of the frame, to which is attached a gas-pipe 25, which supplies heat to both rollers. To the right-hand side of the driving-shaft, outside of the frame,is attached an eccentric 26,which is surrounded by a strap or pitman 27, the front end of which is attached by a studscrew 28 and thumb-nut 29 to the curved slotted arm 10, as shown in Fig. 1. Carried by the levers 22 and 2:2 are the eccentrics 23, which are adapted to support the upper roller when not in use.

By reference to Fig. 1 it will be seen that by the arrangement and combination of an eccentric having a limited throw when connected to the blade-carrying frame by the strap or link 27 the blade would be made to travel a fixed distance, always terminating between the rollers, and would when the adjusting-stud is at its highest point in the curved slot make a fold of one-fourth of an inch on the cloth to be plaited-that is, assuming the eccentric to have an ofiset or throw of one-eighth of an inch. In order to obtain a plait of one-half of an inch, the thumb-nut is released and the stud lowered to No. 2 of the slot, and so on until the largest fold of one inch is obtained, when the stud will have reached the lower end of the slot. It is obvious that by the use of this curved slot in the rocking arm 10 I am enabled to always deliver the blade edge at nearly the same place between the rollers for each change from the finest to the coarsest plait without involving any change in the throw of the eccentric, thus enabling me to change the fold of the cloth with but one adjustment. By the employment of this construction and combination of eccentric and curved slot the noise caused by the severe blow when the cams strike the rocking frame and when released also strike the adj usting-screw,as heretofore practiced, is entirely removed.

The process of actuating the movement of the pressing-rollers is the same as in common use and need not be referred to.

To operate my invention, the cloth to be plaited is passed through the tension-rods 30 in front of the machine and the folding-blade is brought down on the edge of the cloth by moving the driving-shaft until the cam 18 presses upward, the tripping-lever 19 thus pressing the cloth tightly against the bottom roller, and by a further movement of the driving-shaft the eccentric 26 and pitman 27 move forward and carry the blade with the plait folded between the rollers. The cam 18 now releases the pressure and the blade is lifted 0d the cloth under the influence of a coiled spring attached to the blade-shaft and frame. The chuck 17 on the left-hand side of the machine now comes into action and carries forward the link and pawl carrying arm 14, the pawl engaging the ratchet-wheel 14 of the lower roller to move the plait forward. The eccentric having passed over the center now moves the blade-carrying frame backward, where the blade is ready to press on the cloth and make the next plait. To change the size of the fold or plait from a fine to a coarse plait, the adjusting thumb-screw on the slotted arm is released and the stud moved to the size required, and to adjust the movement of the rollers the block on the chuck is pushed farther out until the numberof teeth required to correspond to the depth of the plait is obtained, and it is then secured in place by a setscrew.

It is evident that I provide a very simple, durable, and cheap side-plaiting machine and one which is thoroughly eflicient and very useful and practical.

I claim- 1. In a plaiting-machine,the combination of a frame, an upper and a lower pressing-roller geared together and mounted in said frame, a driving-shaft mounted in the frame, an eccentric mounted upon the driving-shaft, a strap or pitman surrounding said eccentric and having an arm, a pair of arms 10, 11, journaled upon each side of the frame, said arm 10 being of a different shape and being provided with a curved slot intermediate of its length, a rock-shaft carried by the upper ends of said arms, ablade carried by the rockshaft, means to trip said rock-shaft connected to the shaft, an adjusting device connecting the arm of the pitman adjustably with the curved slot of the arm 10 to regulate the throw of the rock-shaft and the size of the plait, and means to impart motion to the driving-shaft.

2. In a plaiting-Inachine,the combination of a frame, an upper hollow roller and a lower hollow roller mounted in said frame, verticallymovable boxes carrying the upper roller and mounted in the frame, a pair of levers connected to the frame and also to said boxes, springs connected near the outer ends of the levers to give ayielding pressure to the upper roller, eccentrics carried by the levers to hold the upper roller out of contact with the lower roller when the machine is not in use, means for revolving the rollers, means for feeding the material to the rollers and plaiting the same, and means to impart motion to the rollers and plaiting means.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS F. HAGERTY.

Witnesses:

DAVID P. MOORE, WM. 0. DASHIELL. 

